If you’ve ever wondered how Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham keep their relationship going strong after 23 years together, wonder no more.

Interviewed on BlogTalkRadio, the educator, author and businessman reveals the forumla that has allowed his love for America’s most powerful woman to flourish – despite incessant rumors of golddigging, breakups and, yes, even homosexuality.

"It's not easy being in the limelight," says Stedman (above, with Oprah). "The Michael Jackson situation will tell you that."

“Both of us have our own identity. We’re able to operate autonomously and we’re able to operate together sometimes. We’re able to share things together,” Stedman, who will be speaking at the University of Phoenix Cleveland Campus on July 23 about his Nine-Step Success Process, tells World Talk Live! host Brett Cohen.

“But also, we have our own space. I do what I do… I speak about 100 times a year around the world. I’ve written a number of books. I have clients I work with,” continues Stedman, 58, who’s currently chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates, a management and marketing consulting company specializing in corporate and educational markets.

“And she has her show. She has her magazine. She has all the things she’s involved in,” he adds of Oprah, 55.

“That’s what she does and that’s what I do. So there’s no conflict. In fact… it’s very complementary.”

"When you love yourself and have your own identity and are passionate," Stedman tells us, "you really don't care about...how the outside world defines you."

Later in the show, Brett asks Stedman how he stands the pressure of the Oprah rumor mill.

“For so many years, you’ve been in the limelight – being in a relationship with Oprah – and there have been a lot of rumors flying around… That Oprah dumped you or you guys aren’t together anymore or people suggest you’re only with her for her money or people have suggested that Oprah’s a lesbian – and that she’s only with you in public to cover it up,” says our host. “How are you able to put up with all that nonsense?”

“People…understand what I have to go through and what she has to go through,” says Stedman.

“It doesn’t make any difference whether you’re a politician, a celebrity an athlete – or whether you’re in your own small town.

“People gossip and they send all kinds of rumors out and everything else. So you gotta have strength… And secondly, you gotta believe in yourself.

“You’re not really going anywhere doin’ the same thing over and over every single day stuck in the box. You’re not goin’ anywhere if you don’t educate yourself.

“You’re just another person, running your mouth, gossiping, talking about somebody else because you don’t have a life for yourself.”

Stedman also tells us how, in the past, his vision of himself held him back.

"They're doing a great job," Stedman says of our nation's First Couple (above).

“I used to have a race-space consciousness,” he says. “You know, everything was about the white man, everything was about the government, everything was about the external world, as opposed to my own development.

“So you get programmed to believe you’re a second-class citizen. So you’re not able to take control of your own life. You become a victim as opposed to a victor.”

Finally, he weighs in on America’s 44th president.

“I think he understands vision; he understands who he is – so he can’t be rocked; he understands how to develop a plan for himself; he understands how to create a value system for himself; he understands how to build a team for himself,” Stedman says of Barack Obama.

“He’s been a community organizer, which people used to laugh at and talk about and make fun of,” continues Stedman.

“Now they realize that the same process for organizing the community is the same process for running the world.”

Well, because you both have tons of money…piece of cake. Try juggling
multiple things every day with college degrees, kids, Hispanics, robberies,
and you grew up when your neighbor was Casey Stagle and RIchard Boone.
Yeh, have fun and then why aren’t you married after 23 years? Fear of committment?

We use to listen to you 20 years ago and then you got really commercial. (Not looking
at the fact you continue to preach and keep you OWN WEIGHT off as well.) Keep
making money and be FAT! What have you learned. Again, why aren’t you married?

“People gossip and they send all kinds of rumors out and everything else. So you gotta have strength… And secondly, you gotta believe in yourself.

“You’re not really going anywhere doin’ the same thing over and over every single day stuck in the box. You’re not goin’ anywhere if you don’t educate yourself.

“You’re just another person, running your mouth, gossiping, talking about somebody else because you don’t have a life for yourself.”

THIS IS SOOOOO TRUE! If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Mr. Stedman is an intelligent, articulate, professional, independent, strong man. No wonder he and Oprah are together. They compliment each other very well. No one is perfect but your strength and character are defined by how you handle your challenges.
i will listen to the show in it’s entirety but this article -about Stedman- was informative enough. Thanks Stedman for sharing YOUR story! Bravo. Continued success and blessings!